“Regional governments should create a special regulation for the handling of forest and land fires. Once again, this is a crucial legal basis,” he stated during a meeting at the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s office here on Thursday (March 14), according to his ministry’s statement.
Karnavian noted that the presence of the regulation is crucial to enable every regional head to have a legal basis and concept for handling forest and land fires in their respective regions.
The minister explained that the regulation can also regulate the handling of forest and land fires through cross-sectoral efforts, including through collaboration with the National Armed Force (TNI) and the National Police (Polri).
“From the regional police chief side, it was stated that an emergency response status is needed to carry out operations and others,” he remarked.
The minister stated that the regulation should be prepared seriously, so the implementation must be based on the regional budget (APBD).
According to the record of the Environment and Forestry Ministry (KLHK), he stated that out of the 20 forest and land fire-prone provinces, only 13 provinces already have a regulation.
The form of the regulation varies, such as Regional Regulation, Governor’s Regulation, Governor’s Decree, and Governor’s Instruction.
Karnavian remarked that the regulation also needs to be created by regional heads whose regions are not categorized as prone to forest and land fires.
“There are 18 provinces, according to KLHK records, which are not of concern for forest and land fires, but they need to be careful, because sometimes, incidents occur, such as the one in East Java,” he remarked.
He expressed hope that with efforts to create a regulation for handling forest and land fires, all regional heads would move faster in anticipating fires.
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Translator: Walda Marison, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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